Literary analysis requires thoughtful reading, the result of which will be to find specific patterns and structures laid down by the author in writing. Thus, in reading paragraph seven of Alexie’s Superman and me, it was found that the word “read” occurs fourteen times out of 184 words. For an experienced writer, such repetitions might indicate a poor vocabulary, but it is safe to say that Alexie chose to use such a technique for a reason. When a writer deliberately emphasizes a word, he or she seeks to show important symbolism through that word.
In the seventh paragraph, the verb “read” was used fourteen times to show what activity was dominant in the author’s childhood. While the other children were having fun, he was reading. He read all his free time because he was fascinated by it. Thus, the special word repetitions as part of the rhetorical tools used had a symbolic function and were intended to convey the author’s particular behavior.
Another symbol highlighted in the reading is the metaphorical use of the image of the door that the superman in the comic book was kicking in with his punch. The door is always an obstacle that creates a physical barrier between spaces. Approximating this to the young author, one could say that the door was his portal to the world of literacy and conscious consumption of language, and its destruction marked the transition from unthinking reading to meaningful reading. This thesis can also be traced throughout the text: from this point on, the author no longer emphasized his inability to read but instead described that his reading skills had outgrown those of his peers.
However, like any child, it was difficult for him to learn to read because written language is an entirely unnatural form of communication. Learning the alphabet and then composing individual letters into words and words into meanings required much effort from the author. At the same time, the young writer did not give up and kept trying, and when he could not read, he made up phrases based on the context. Consequently, hard work and unarticulated involvement in reading, which began thanks to his father, were the catalysts of Alexie’s accelerated pace of development and, perhaps, his professional success.